I'm trying to get ideas...here's what we are thinking.
We're possibly doing glass coasters with the chinese symbol of love on it. The symbol is key to my FI and I as he has it tattooed on him, I'm getting it and we had it writeen out with our names and framed for our first Valentines day.
We'd wrap a ribbon on them, tie a bow and hang a "Thank you" tag from it - all in all the coaster is about $1.10 each and then I'll make the hang cards and pick up ribbon at a craft store.
I figure a coaster thats not got our names on it is something everyone could use and if they get left behind, I won't mind having extras atround the house.....
We're doing a candy buffet in lieu of favours. I figure if there's leftover candy that's just fine by me! Consumable favours are the way to go - if you can eat it or drink it, it's great!
We're doing personalized Frisbees. Well, maybe mini Frisbees, but legit ones from Discraft. We're Ultimate Frisbee players, so those cheap plastic ones just won't work!
You could also make a donation in lieu of favours. A friend of mine lost her best friend to cancer so she is making a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society. They will supply her with the little cards that go on the table describing where her donation goes.
we did photo coasters and swapped out the "thank you for being part of our special day" insert that came with them to custom "Thank You" with our names and wedding date.
They turned out to be a hit, and friends still come up to me after the wedding asking if we have extras.
It's so nice also to go to friends' houses and see the coasters being used, rather than giving them elaborately wrapped candies that they will eat and throw away in a second.
I did mini bottles of dried rosemary.... my main color was sage, so it went with my color palette, plus upon researching rosemary, i learned some interesting things about its traditional role in weddings! So, on the bottle (which i got here: http://save-on-crafts.com/minglasbotbr3.html), I had a semi-clear vellum label wrapped around it that explained:
"Throughout history, the fragrant herb rosemary has held a place of great esteem as the symbol of remembrance and fidelity. Sprigs were dipped in gold and tied with a ribbon for special wedding guests. It symbolize that although the couple was leaving their friends and family to start a new life, they would never forget their loved ones.
In the tradition of remembrance, thank you for celebrating our special day with us!"
Then, I tied a green ribbon around the top of the jar and attached a gold tag (to tie into the "gold sprig" explained above) that had our names and wedding date on it.Â
They turned out so well and were super inexpensive to make! Plus, people can always use some extra herbs in their kitchen.. :)Â
If anyone needs any rosemary, I have about 6 pounds left (definitely overestimated how much i'd need!), so let me know!Â
I am doing personalize dove chocolates from Hershey. You can customize them right on their website and pick the color of the wrapping you want to us. Then I am going to just wrap them in Tuille with a bow. I figured a favor that you can eat (and if yummy! Love Doves) is better than something that will collect dust on your shelf or be left behind at the reception because people don't care for it.
we're giving everyone a cd with our song (let it snow) on it and a candle and votive holder that I etched snowflakes on and a little christmas ornament that doubles as a ringer that everyone will ring as we leave (it's three little jingle bells with a snowflake pendant and a little thanks tag on sheer ribbon)
doing bamboo windchimes that i got in the philippines. they came out to be $.28 each with the converstion rate and the bargaining that we did. :) also doing a candy buffet. and since there's such a long time span between the church and reception, i'm also handing out chinese take out boxes with creampuffs in them after the church ceremony.
We wanted something that followed our preference for sustainable business, would be a big hit from little kids to the grandparents and was easy to travel with since most of our guests were from out of town. We briefly considered DIY coasters but were worried that they would break or wouldn't be as well-received as we had intended.
So enter locally-made, organic truffles! The DH and I are chocolate snobs (prefer European over *most* American chocolate which is made from hydrogenated oils) so we were concerned about ordering from somewhere we couldn't try the product in advance. We went with a local chocolatier and they were a huge hit! My 3-year-old niece sniffed them out immediately. At the end of the night the guests asked for the name of the chocolatier - they wanted to order some of their own! In our eyes, that was a huge hit as not only were the truffles super-yummmmy but our purchase went to to a local business owner.
Originally we were going to make cute glass jars of pear preserves to hand out (family recipe). After making over 30 of them...and running out of pears...I realized we might not be able to buy enough pears to make 200!! And I might run out of patience. So now we are going to friend's honeybee farm and collecting honey. Using the same jars, cute fabric, and lovely notes - martha stewart-ish :)
I'm getting chocolate covered fortune cookies, you can personalize the fortunes, and chopsticks engraved with our names and the "happy" symbol. I'll make silver paper holders and wrap the chopsticks with a ribbon.
I haven't seen either product in person, but browsing other shops these looked great in comparison.
we are foregoing the "traditional" favor by making a dontation to the American Cancer Society (our charity) in honor of our guests and in memory of my father (it is a way I hope to include him in our special day).
we are also going to have a photobooth with a personalized banner. we are going to have the digital images of the pictures projected on the wide screen during the dance portion of the reception afterparty
i am also going to make the name cards into bookmarks so that guests can actually keep them and use them afterwards. i am just debating if they should be laminated or not, at this point. which is easy enough to do with a xyron machine. :)
I'm trying to get ideas...here's what we are thinking.
We're possibly doing glass coasters with the chinese symbol of love on it. The symbol is key to my FI and I as he has it tattooed on him, I'm getting it and we had it writeen out with our names and framed for our first Valentines day.
We'd wrap a ribbon on them, tie a bow and hang a "Thank you" tag from it - all in all the coaster is about $1.10 each and then I'll make the hang cards and pick up ribbon at a craft store.
I figure a coaster thats not got our names on it is something everyone could use and if they get left behind, I won't mind having extras atround the house.....
How about everyone else...
posted by Sweeney2Be 1,488 posts 1 year agoI think coasters are an excellent idea...
My favors I am still debating. Maybe mini champagne bottles, truffles... or I might even opt for a donation card to the breast cancer association...
still undecided....
posted by GlamourThisbyKelly 17 posts 1 year agoWe're doing a candy buffet in lieu of favours. I figure if there's leftover candy that's just fine by me! Consumable favours are the way to go - if you can eat it or drink it, it's great!
posted by Lani 85 posts 1 year agoi ditched the favors!
posted by PhxBride 77 posts 1 year agoWe're contemplating four options:
1. 3 teabags tied in a little organza bag
2. Chocolate truffles
3. Personalized deck of cards with one of our engagement photos on the back of the cards
4. No favours!
posted by smartl 353 posts 1 year agoWe're doing personalized Frisbees. Well, maybe mini Frisbees, but legit ones from Discraft. We're Ultimate Frisbee players, so those cheap plastic ones just won't work!
posted by moemarsita 36 posts 1 year agoYou could also make a donation in lieu of favours. A friend of mine lost her best friend to cancer so she is making a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society. They will supply her with the little cards that go on the table describing where her donation goes.
posted by Lani 85 posts 1 year agowe did photo coasters and swapped out the "thank you for being part of our special day" insert that came with them to custom "Thank You" with our names and wedding date.
They turned out to be a hit, and friends still come up to me after the wedding asking if we have extras.
It's so nice also to go to friends' houses and see the coasters being used, rather than giving them elaborately wrapped candies that they will eat and throw away in a second.
posted by kim 19 posts 1 year agoI did mini bottles of dried rosemary.... my main color was sage, so it went with my color palette, plus upon researching rosemary, i learned some interesting things about its traditional role in weddings! So, on the bottle (which i got here: http://save-on-crafts.com/minglasbotbr3.html), I had a semi-clear vellum label wrapped around it that explained:
I am doing personalize dove chocolates from Hershey. You can customize them right on their website and pick the color of the wrapping you want to us. Then I am going to just wrap them in Tuille with a bow. I figured a favor that you can eat (and if yummy! Love Doves) is better than something that will collect dust on your shelf or be left behind at the reception because people don't care for it.
posted by correneh 13 posts 1 year agowe're giving everyone a cd with our song (let it snow) on it and a candle and votive holder that I etched snowflakes on and a little christmas ornament that doubles as a ringer that everyone will ring as we leave (it's three little jingle bells with a snowflake pendant and a little thanks tag on sheer ribbon)
posted by kimi22 9 posts 1 year agoWe are putting 5 candy sticks (green and brown) in a clear bag and using material at the top to decorate it up a bit. Simple but cute and tasty!
posted by katiebee 7 posts 1 year agoWe gave out mini reed diffusers... they were a huuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggggeeeeeeeeeee hit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by jenabma 9 posts 1 year agodoing bamboo windchimes that i got in the philippines. they came out to be $.28 each with the converstion rate and the bargaining that we did. :) also doing a candy buffet. and since there's such a long time span between the church and reception, i'm also handing out chinese take out boxes with creampuffs in them after the church ceremony.
posted by aoedorothee 118 posts 1 year agoI love the idea of a photobooth!
posted by jess 106 posts 1 year agoWe wanted something that followed our preference for sustainable business, would be a big hit from little kids to the grandparents and was easy to travel with since most of our guests were from out of town. We briefly considered DIY coasters but were worried that they would break or wouldn't be as well-received as we had intended.
So enter locally-made, organic truffles! The DH and I are chocolate snobs (prefer European over *most* American chocolate which is made from hydrogenated oils) so we were concerned about ordering from somewhere we couldn't try the product in advance. We went with a local chocolatier and they were a huge hit! My 3-year-old niece sniffed them out immediately.
At the end of the night the guests asked for the name of the chocolatier - they wanted to order some of their own! In our eyes, that was a huge hit as not only were the truffles super-yummmmy but our purchase went to to a local business owner.
posted by christigpa 84 posts 1 year agochocolate covered fortune cookies in small take out boxes wrapped in ribbon
posted by Joanne 147 posts 1 year agoOriginally we were going to make cute glass jars of pear preserves to hand out (family recipe). After making over 30 of them...and running out of pears...I realized we might not be able to buy enough pears to make 200!! And I might run out of patience. So now we are going to friend's honeybee farm and collecting honey. Using the same jars, cute fabric, and lovely notes - martha stewart-ish :)
posted by taaliza 26 posts 1 year agoI'm getting chocolate covered fortune cookies, you can personalize the fortunes, and chopsticks engraved with our names and the "happy" symbol. I'll make silver paper holders and wrap the chopsticks with a ribbon.
I haven't seen either product in person, but browsing other shops these looked great in comparison.
http://www.chocolati.com/home.php?cat=1
http://www.laserimageworks.com/
posted by cyshas 262 posts 1 year agowe are foregoing the "traditional" favor by making a dontation to the American Cancer Society (our charity) in honor of our guests and in memory of my father (it is a way I hope to include him in our special day).
we are also going to have a photobooth with a personalized banner. we are going to have the digital images of the pictures projected on the wide screen during the dance portion of the reception afterparty
i am also going to make the name cards into bookmarks so that guests can actually keep them and use them afterwards. i am just debating if they should be laminated or not, at this point. which is easy enough to do with a xyron machine. :)
posted by pancy 201 posts 1 year ago